Ed Helms and Amanda Seyfried Flirt Through a Gas Station Window in ‘The Clapper’ Clip

Dito Montiel needs a win right now. The noted indie writer/director was the object of some ridicule (from me) when it came out that his latest feature, the Shia LaBeouf-led war picture Man Down, attracted exactly three viewers in all of Britain. The movie didn’t fare so well stateside either, and Montiel’s previous effort Boulevard got lost in the shuffle when star Robin Williams abruptly died prior to release. Montiel’s returning in grand fashion this month with a premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival for his latest film The Clapper, an adaptation of the novel he wrote in 2007 titled Eddie Krumble Is the Clapper. And with a new clip surfacing online today, we can make our own judgement on whether Montiel has cause for hope or if he should hedge some of those bets.

Ed Helms and Amanda Seyfried star in the film, and the clip above finds them tentatively flirting with one another. Helms portrays a professional clapper in TV audiences who soon finds his relative anonymity snatched from him when he’s thrust into the spotlight, and Seyfried is the meek-mannered gas station attendant that he develops a crush on. Context clues seem to indicate that her microphone was busted at one point, and as a gesture of affection and thoughtfulness, Helms devises a rotating board that can help her take orders from customers without straining her voice.

Hard to say from this isolated clip what’s going on with the rest of the movie — Helms’ mention that her lacking a television might be for the best certainly sounds meaningful — but this bit promises some sweet, earnest courtship between the two of them. Way to give the people what they want, Montiel!